Search Bloc

The Search Bloc was a special operations unit of the Colombian national police that was formed with the goal of capturing or killing narcos (drug lords) and other dangerous people in the country. Trained by the United States' Drug Enforcement Agency and Central Intelligence Agency, the Search Bloc was led by the famous colonel Hugo Martinez during the 1990s, when they succeeded in bringing down Pablo Escobar.

History
The first incarnation of Search Bloc had been formed by the year 1989 with assistance from the United States' DEA and CIA governmental agencies. The bloc was trained by the Colombian Army, and its goal was to hunt down and bring to justice leading narcos (drug traffickers) and communist rebels. This incarnation was led by Colonel Horacio Carrillo, who was constantly in contact with the DEA. President Cesar Gaviria created the second incarnation in 1992, the first one known to the public. The Search Bloc collaborated with anti-drug vigilante groups such as Los Pepes, leading to the suspicious deaths of drug lord Pablo Escobar's subordinates, so Escobar sent spies to infiltrate the Search Bloc and help him with stopping their intrusion into his affairs. After the fall of Escobar and his Medellin Cartel in 1993, the Search Bloc dismantled the Cali Cartel, being disbanded soon after.

In 2004, the Search Bloc was revived to root out southwestern Colombian cocaine and heroin traffickers. The Search Bloc took down the Norte del Valle cartel, and in 2007 the next generation of Search Bloc policemen was sent to hunt down and destroy The Black Eagles, a right-wing drug cartel that consisted of counter-revolutionary former paramilitaries.